Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Stock Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 535,156 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,709 shares during the quarter. ONEOK makes up 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.09% of ONEOK worth $37,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 3.6% in the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,631 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in ONEOK by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its position in ONEOK by 5.0% during the third quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in ONEOK by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,573 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in ONEOK by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 838 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on OKE shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of ONEOK from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ONEOK presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.58.

ONEOK Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:OKE traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $78.36. 2,366,144 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,981,186. ONEOK, Inc. has a one year low of $55.91 and a one year high of $81.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $45.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $78.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.18.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.84 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.09%.

About ONEOK

ONEOK, Inc engages in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates through four segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, Natural Gas Pipelines, and Refined Products and Crude.